From Vietnam we have once again been able to import beautiful hillstream loaches of the genus Sewellia under the name Sewellia breviventralis. The species S. breviventralis exists and it is anatomically very similar to the imported animals, but there are differences in colouring compared to the live imported animals, whose exact origin is unknown, but of which it is suspected (like several other commercially interesting ornamental fish from Vietnam) that they are collected in the central Vietnamese province of Hue.
In the hobby such animals imported as S. breviventralis have been given the codes SEW02, SEW03 and SEW04. Occasionally they have also been associated with the species S. diardi or S. elongata. It does not seem to make sense to speculate about the name at the moment, also in view of the great colour variability that these hillstream loaches exhibit. We are therefore retaining the name Sewellia breviventralis used on the export lists, without claiming that it is really this species. Most of our currently imported animals correspond best to the colour form (or new species), which is called SEW03 in the hobby, but there are all conceivable intermediate stages to SEW04 and SEW02; therefore it seems likely that SEW02, SEW03 and SEW04 represent the same species.
Anyway: these hillstream loaches are beautiful aquarium fishes, which you should keep in an aquarium with strong current, with many stones, and well maintained, organically little polluted water. The temperature should be not too high: 22-24°C. The hillstream loaches eat all usual ornamental fish food, i.e. dry food, granules and frozen food, they are somewhat clumsy when catching live food. They are not algae eaters in the actual sense, however, the algae growth on the stone should be promoted by strong lighting, because these algae are often thinned by the hillstream loaches for microorganisms.
For our customers: the animals have code 455044 on our stocklist. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
